Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

 Dear friends,

 All of the lessons this past Sunday, August 10, addressed the issue of faith—especially what it is and how to hold onto it in times of disappointment or despair.  As encouragement to Christians whose hope was flagging (Christ had not yet come again; they were being persecuted), the author of Hebrews produced a list of famous Old Testament characters who showed faith even when times were hard.  The writer stresses that one component of faith is having hope for God’s promises to be fulfilled in the future:  All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them…  (Hebrews 11:13).

Pondering and praying about Sunday’s readings, I was reminded of a prayer I love that is often attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero but was actually written by an American Bishop, Ken Untener, in 1979:

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps, now and then,
to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
 it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime
only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise
that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete,
 which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom
always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,

knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces
 far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter
 and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers,
not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future
not our own.

Friends, keep the faith.  Every blessing.  -Anne